Local author Amy Ignatow is an illustrator and teacher with a storied past that includes stints as everything from farmer to air-brush body artist. Her bestselling debut novel, The Popularity Papers, follows fifth-grade best friends Julie and Lydia on their quest to become popular. At this special comics workshop, Ignatow will teach children the art of drawing comics, as well as discuss and sign her own work.

Music by MTM (Many Thoughts of Music) BandWednesday, April 13, 2011 at 5:45PMParkway Central Lobby

Featuring Eric Mabley on keyboard, Ron Starley on drums, and the Free Library’s own Alfred “Moe Joe” Moore on bass, Many Thoughts of Music is a gospel and jazz jam band that has performed throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. With a sophisticated and well-polished sound, these talented musicians get the crowd moving for a reliably good time. Find out more about them on their MySpace page.

Deemed “corrupt and contented” by journalist Lincoln Steffens in 1903, the City of Brotherly Love’s underbelly is exposed in this anthology of brand-new crime stories by local authors. Part of Akashic Books’ award-winning series of original noir anthologies that started with Brooklyn Noir, Philadelphia Noir is “a collection enhanced by an unerring sense of place […] that will please the most discriminating lovers of the dark side,” according to a reviewer for Kirkus Reviews.

Critic-at-large for the Chronicle of Higher Education, editor Carlin Romano was a literary critic at the Philadelphia Inquirer for 25 years. Asali Solomon is a West Philadelphia native who was selected as one of the National Book Foundation’s “5 Under 35” for her first book of short stories, Get Down. Duane Swierczynski is the former editor-in-chief of the Philadelphia City Paper, the author of several crime thrillers including Expiration Date and Severance Package, and a writer for Marvel Comics. Jim Zervanos is the author of the critically acclaimed novel LOVE Park.

Donald Bogle | Heat Wave: The Life and Career of Ethel WatersWednesday, April 13, 2011 at 7:30PMFestival Main Stage

A professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and the University of Pennsylvania, Donald Bogle is the foremost authority on African Americans in film. His books, which include Dorothy Dandridge; Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks; Primetime Blues; and Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams have won awards and wide critical acclaim. In Heat Wave, Bogle traces screen star Ethel Waters’ life from her childhood years of poverty in Chester, PA, to her success in Hollywood—where she became the second African American ever to be nominated for an Academy Award. Bogle recounts with detail her stint in black vaudeville, her turbulent personal life, and her hard-won success as a Broadway musical comedy and dramatic star.

Ryan Field is the author of over 100 published works of LGBT fiction, the best selling Virgin Billionaire series, a pg rated hetero romance that was featured on The Home Shopping Network titled, "Loving Daylight," and a few more works of full length fiction with a pen name. He's worked in publishing for twenty years as a writer, editor, and associate editor. His work has been in Lambda Award winning anthologies and he's self-published a few novels with Ryan Field Press. You can reach him by leaving a comment here, or at rfieldj@aol.com